THE DAYS THAT ARE NO MORE

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn-fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from the underworld,
Sad as the last that reddens over one

That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more.

As sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
The earliest pipe of half-awakened birds
To dying ears, when unto dying eyes

The casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hapless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O Death in Life, the days that are no more!

(TENNYSON: The Princess)

CHAPTER XIII

RATE (IN WORDS AND SENTENCES)

In addition to quality, force, and pitch, every sound has a certain duration in time. When several sounds are uttered in succession, the term rate, instead of duration, is used to designate the time element. Broadly classified, rate of speaking may be considered as moderate (normal), rapid, or slow. A skillful and discriminating use of these ranges is a signal help in delivery. The changes in pitch and force already presented are sufficient to provide for the expression of normal interest and for the distinction of ordinary relative values. Therefore, a moderate rate is used most of the time. But if the speaker desires to create an impression of emotional intensity, excitement, or rapid action, a fast rate is much more suggestive to his audience. If, on the contrary, he wishes to give unusual weight, or emphasis to an idea or part of an idea, or if he has occasion to suggest great size or slow action, a more deliberate than normal rate is most fitting. Furthermore, the student should not overlook the fact that a changing rate is an aid to pitch and force variation in the avoidance of monotony. And, of course, an appreciable change of rate may be made in any one raterange without passing into one of the others; i. e., there are various degrees of normal, of slow, and of rapid rate. For more detailed consideration of the time ele

ment, it will be advantageous to study its application to words and sentences, and later to whole sections of an address.

ance.

Rate Applied to Single Words

The time occupied in speaking any word may vary considerably, from an utterance which is abrupt to one which is slowly drawn out. This possibility is due to the fact that the vowels, especially the long vowels, and the continuant consonants may all be indefinitely prolonged or shortened in quantity, as may also the breaks between syllables. From this it is obvious that words which are composed mainly of short vowels and explosive consonants, such as quick, brisk, chuck, and pick, lend themselves readily to rapid utterance. On the contrary, words comprising long vowels and continuants, such as allay, lean, file, moan, and use, invite slow utterMoreover, words of many syllables, such as occupation, prohibition, and manufacture, are more adaptable to slow delivery than are words of about the same length but of fewer syllables, such as blackboard, playground, and throughout, owing to the possibility of retarding at the breaks between syllables. Speakers may well bear in mind, both in composition and delivery, this varied capacity in words. Of course, in the case of extempore speaking not much choice for purposes of rate is to be expected, but it is desirable to realize that a single well-chosen and aptly spoken word can produce a marked effect. For example, supposing a person is talking about a plan which has been carefully worked out, when one day something went wrong and "click the whole thing fell through. The failure was due to just one fault procrastination." The word "click,"

abruptly spoken, suggests suddenness; the word "procrastination," somewhat drawn out, carries with it an impression of postponement which the word "delay," for instance, could not give. Consider the telling effect of dwelling on "honorable men," and then giving a short, sharp utterance to "daggers" and "stabbed," in the sentence, "I fear I wrong the honorable men whose daggers have stabb'd Cæsar." When this use of rapid or slow words, as they may be termed, is extended to groups, the effect is even more striking. Writers often take advantage of the suggestive-word principle, known as onomatopeia; but it can be much more effectively employed by the speaker because he can bring out the proper value in delivery.

EXERCISES

I. Utter very slowly the long sounds of a, e, i, o, u; also the syllables ef, ēl, ēm, ēn, ūr, ēs, vē.

II Speak slowly the following words, noting their meaning and the character of their component sounds: roll, blow, alone, gloom, groan, wail, toll, slow, moan, long, shame, drear, knell, sigh, roar, hang, haul, crawl, writhe, dream, drone, stroll, drawl, dying, sublime, murmuring, lonesome, pondering, roaming, far-flung, forlorn, linger, longing, venerable, solemn, dominion, mournful, loathsome, fawning, lounging, long-drawn, over and over, day after day.

III. Utter the following syllables clearly and abruptly, using the short sound of the vowel: ba, cha, da, ga, ja, ka, pa, ta; repeat the syllables, substituting in turn the short sound of e, i, o, and u.

IV. Pronounce sharply but distinctly the following words, noting their meaning and component sounds: bit,

jab, tap, brisk, click, trip, snap, stop, kick, charge, clip, jerk, tid-bit, stab, dart, quick, short, sharp, tick, sped, abrupt, bitter, dagger, stabbed, jerked, titter, tinkle, attack, petty, torrent, pepper, sputter, darted, nip and tuck, short and sharp.

Rate Applied to Sentences

The expressive capacity of a given rate is greater when applied to groups of words than when applied to single words, because the effect produced by this rate is, obviously, multiplied by lengthening or shortening the space between words. Furthermore, the contrasts between slowly spoken and rapidly spoken groups are more impressive. It might seem as if such a hint were all that is needed to put the time element into the student's possession for practical use. As in so many other instances, however, this is not the case. He must develop a keen sense for the possibilities of suggesting ideas and emotions by means of rate; he must acquire, also, mental poise and physical control in the execution of his aim. Owing to a common tendency to speak before audiences with an unvarying, habitual rate, it is probably more difficult for the student to modify it to fit groups of words than to adapt it to a whole section. And yet this frequent rate variation in speaking sentences is most essential since the average speech section is composed of units which differ in relative importance, in degree of complexity, in intensity of feeling, or in suggestion of rapidity or slowness of action. To speak a phrase here, a clause there, and a sentence in another place, now more slowly, now more rapidly than the prevailing rate for the section as a whole,- that is the